Skål International Committees 2023

The Skål International Committees have been working tirelessly since the beginning of the year to define their objectives for 2023.


COMMITTEES OBJECTIVES AND MEMBERS

TRANSITION COMMITTEE 

OBJECTIVES

Identify opportunities for change.

Implement the changes.

Train the members on the changes.

  • Facilitate a seamless transition process by engaging, educating and appealing to members to be part of this exciting process. 

  • Finalize and implement guidelines/procedures and requirements of the Governance Plan passed by membership. 

  • Coordinate with Statutes and By-laws Committee all changes and updates. 

  • Worldwide training. 

  • Coordinate candidate forums. 

  • Coordinate election and plan logistics with the staff at Head Office. 

MEMBERS

  • Juan I. Steta: Skål International President - Executive Board Liaison

  • Hulya Aslantas: Advisor

  • Alfred Merse: Australia / Oceania - Co-Chairman

  • Lavonne Wittmann: South Africa / Africa - Co-Chairman

  • Holly Powers: U.S.A. / Americas - Co-Chairman

  • Jean-François Côté: Canada / Americas

  • Sanjay Datta: India / Asia

  • Maureen Ogola: Kenya / Africa 

  • Fernando Azcona: Mexico / Americas

  • Bruce Garrett: New Zealand / Oceania

  • Fiona Angelico: South Africa / Africa 

  • David Fontanella: Switzerland / Europe

  • Hiro Liao: Taiwan / Asia

  • Heike Garcon-Suiheran: Thailand / Asia

  • Eric Etienne: United Kingdom / Europe

STATUTES/BY-LAWS COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

  • To ensure transition and implementation of the new approved Governance structure.

  • To recommend further refinement of details of the new Governance Structure as needed.

  • To review how the approved Governance changes impact other structures of Skål International such as Clubs, National and Area Committees.

  • To put in place, temporary regulations dealing with the transition from the old to the new Governance Structure.

  • Clarify any By-Laws related questions that come up in this transition year.

  • Any other tasks assigned by the Executive Board.

MEMBERS

  • Juan I. Steta: Skål International President - Executive Board Liaison

  • Salih Cene: Türkiye - Co-chairman

  • Mok Singh: USA / Americas - Co-chairman

  • Shekhar Divadkar: India / Asia

  • Burjis Mehta: India / Asia

  • Fernanda Soler: Mexico / Americas

  • Jan Sunde: Norway / Europe

  • Vernon Kirsten: South Africa / Africa

  • Arthur B. Allis: USA / Americas   

  • Karen Trevino: USA / Americas

  • Leighton Cameron: New Zealand / Oceania

  • Serge Doyon: Canada /Americas

ADVOCACY, GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS & TRADE SHOWS COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

  • Make Skål International more relevant to its members, their businesses, and the travel industry in general.

  • Identify global challenges to the travel industry and work to resolve them in conjunction with the Skål network and industry partners.

  • Confront child trafficking within the tourism and work to reduce or eliminate it.

  • Incorporate sustainability as a leading Skål issue priority, train Clubs on how to address it, and work with global partners on making it a standard in the industry permanently.

  • With the Executive Committee, establish prioritized global partnerships and work through “Skål Ambassadors” to develop strong and meaningful relationships.

  • Develop guidelines for Skål International participation in key trade shows by defining who is the carrier at each of the Skål relationships, look for opportunities for Skål positive visibility, and use it to develop club and membership growth.


MEMBERS

  • Andres Hayes: Skål International Director - Executive Board Liaison

  • Jane Garcia: Mexico / Americas - Co-chairman

  • Olukemi (Kemi) Soetan: Nigeria / Africa - Co-chairman

  • Steve Richer: USA / Americas - Co-chairman

  • Carlos Asensio: Argentina / Americas 

  • Alfred Merse: Australia / Oceania

  • Susan Webb: Canada / Americas

  • Ville Riihimäki: Finland / Europe

  • Stella Appenteng: Ghana / Africa

  • Mark Mendes: India / Asia

  • Hari Valmiki: India / Asia

  • Carl Vaz: India / Asia

  • Armando Ballarin: Italy / Europe 

  • Rosemary Mugambi: Kenya / Africa

  • Kitty Wong: Mexico / Americas 

  • Kevin Rautenbach: Thailand / Asia 

  • Mayumi Hu: Taiwan / Asia

  • Hülya Aslantas: Türkiye

  • Farida Ddamulira: Uganda / Africa

  • Michaela Claudino: USA / Americas

  • Joost Demeyer: USA / Americas   

  • Iris Salazar: USA / Americas

  • Tito Livio Mongelli: Italy / Europe

TRAINING & EDUCATION COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

Attend… Learn… Engage… Grow

  • Encourage our members to attend our training podcasts.

  • Educate and empower our members with knowledge of the history and benefits of Skål Membership.

  • Enhance engagement skills within our membership base to strengthen effective networking.

  • Through training and education skills, we envisage growth in knowledge of our members about our organization, interest shown by industry peers with regards to Skål International which will culminate in membership growth.

MEMBERS

  • Julie Dabaly-Scott: International Skål Council President - Executive Board Liaison

  • Lavonne Wittmann: South Africa / Africa - Chairman

  • Marjolaine De Sa: Canada / Americas   

  • Shalini Charles: India / Asia

  • Lucy Macridis: Kenya / Africa

  • Carol Bayne: South Africa / Africa   

  • Benita Bezuidenhout: South Africa / Africa

  • Tekin Ertan: Türkiye

  • Jim Dwyer: USA / Americas

MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

  • Finalise anything from 2022 e.g. Testimonial video to be distributed.

  • Toolbox for all Clubs to access all up to date information. 

  • Review website and recommend any changes that will assist Clubs. 

  • Retention. 

  • Succession Planning. 

  • Review Club structures and the ability for a larger Club/country to assist struggling Clubs such as Ghana/Italy and St. Petersburg/Monaco. 

MEMBERS

  • Denise Scrafton: Skål International Vice President - Executive Board Liaison 

  • Victoria Wales: New Zealand / Oceania - Chairman

  • Ash Munn: Australia / Oceania

  • Valerie Cote: Canada /  Americas

  • Mehboob Harunani: Kenya / Africa 

  • Dushyanthi Jayaweera: Sri Lanka / Asia

  • Selcuk Nazilli: Türkiye

  • Patina Farnham: UK / Europe

  • Karin Andersen: USA / Americas

 

TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

  • Meet once a month and discuss new technological development in the industry that is seen as necessary for:

    • Our website and membership platform to be considered.

    • Our members to be notified and updated – suggest articles and news share.

  • As the new website/membership platform progresses, give feedback to the Director of IT/Innovation and make suggestions/recommendations.

  • Provide feedback/recommendations on how Skål International can improve its presence in Social Media platforms – from technical point of view as content wise this would fall into PR/Communications Portfolio and Committee.

  • Assist Skål International HQ Team with any communication/training that needs to be transmitted to the National Committees or Clubs.

  • Support the Skål International HQ IT team when needed.

  • Provide any logistical support during the transition of the platform especially on the part when the Club website cloning phase begins.

  • Enhance support in feedback as end users or any suggestions they may produce with their observations within their industry that could support the ongoing project development.

MEMBERS

  • Mohan NSN: Skål International Director - Executive Board Liaison

  • Burcin Turkkan: Advisor

  • Graham Mann: New Zealand / Oceania - Co-Chairman

  • James Thurlby: Thailand / Asia - Co-Chairman

  • Alan Racic: Croatia / Europe

  • Wolfgang Hofmann: Germany / Europe

  • Toni Ritter: Germany / Europe

  • Alex Jacob: India /Asia

  • Vipul Tanna: India /Asia

  • Bruno Strati: Italy / Europe 

  • Fulvio Giannetti: Italy / Europe   

  • Shenaz Neky: Kenya / Africa

  • Mary Chin: USA / Americas

  • Paul Dhadda: USA / Americas

  • Riaan Jordaan: South Africa / Africa

  • Guillaume Mezino: Switzerland / Europe

MEDIA & PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

  • Show the benefits of our International Organization.

  • Increase the numbers of members worldwide.

  • Show and bring value to our members or potential members.

  • Increase brand awareness.

  • Collaborate with the membership committee to leverage any opportunities of Communication.

How?

  • Educate:

    • Share best experience.

    • Guest speakers.

    • Panel.

  • Social (LinkedIn, Facebook…)

    • Use social media to communicate with our members, share experience… Anything that could show membership value to our members.

    • Train and empower our members on social media (All our members are potential ambassadors on social media).

MEMBERS

  • Annette Cardenas: Skål International Senior Vice President - Executive Board Liaison

  • Wayne Lee: USA / Americas - Co-Chairman

  • Frank Legrand: USA / Americas - Co-Chairman

  • Iasmin Abdulhadi: Argentina / Americas

  • Annett Reimers: Germany / Europe

  • June Mukherjee: India / Asia

  • Angie Angon: Mexico / Americas

  • Mine Gunes Kaya: Türkiye

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE  

OBJECTIVES

  • Generate sponsorship funds for the organization to be used towards the causes supported by Skål International globally.

MEMBERS

  • Anurag Gupta: India / Asia - Co-Chairman

  • Deniz Anapa: Türkiye - Co-Chairman

  • Ahmet Can Yesildag: Canada / Americas

  • Altan Demirkaya: Canada / Americas

  • Sudipta Deb: India / Asia    

  • Sujata Mariwalla: India / Asia

  • Atilla Acet: Türkiye

AID COMMITTEES

UKRAINE FUND

MEMBERS

  • Matanyah Hecht: Israel / Middle East

  • Jan Sunde: Norway / Europe

  • Florin Tancu: Romania / Europe

TÜRKIYE FUND

MEMBERS

  • Sadik Altiparmak: Türkiye

  • Hülya Aslantas: Türkiye

Updated 17 April 2023